MOGRTs are indispensable tools for motion graphics teams...but what are they, and what goes into building them? Junior Designer + Animator Tyler Rispoli breaks it down. 

All About MOGRTs

As TV entertainment channels have shifted from being desirable to essential, the sector’s branding has gone mainstream too, losing its cultural edge in the process. Director of Creative Strategy Mika Saulitis, this week in Creative Review. 

"Branding in the entertainment and media space feels noticeably more practical and utilitarian, with an underlying promise of ‘something for everyone’ permeating SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) and AVOD (Advertising-based Video on Demand) services alike."

Have streaming channels given up on aspirational branding?

From consistency and professionalism to personality and perseverance, CCO Alex Moulton examines some of the cornerstones of successful YouTube channels to determine how brands can elevate their online presence.

You’d be surprised by how many established brands still lack a coherent set of brand guidelines for their social channels.

Prolific YouTubers have a team behind them working to coordinate a regular stream of content.

Love him or loathe him, Mr. Beast has created a huge brand personality fronted by an individual. 

Since watch time is the most important ranking factor on YouTube, the creator’s goal is to increase audience retention to improve rankings.

Building a successful YouTube channel takes time and dedication.

Shots: Five lessons for brands from YouTube creators

Branding: the slightly nerdier cousin of marketing. Or is it? Director of Creative Strategy Mika Saulitis weighs in. 

Today, the industry is having a cultural moment. Think about all of the discussions around not just brands, but the creative and strategic process of branding.

Social media is the great equalizer, opening up what has been a closed-off industry and introducing a new generation to the wonderful (and slightly geeky) world of branding in a way that wasn’t available before. 

Not to jinx it, but is branding…cool?

Vibes: the ultimate design secret sauce. Creative Director Erin Kilkenny on designing brands with emotion and intuition.

"Creativity requires openness, fearlessness, and risk taking."

In Defense of Vibes

Can producing scratch your creative itch? Senior Producer Natalie Studdert on how expanding the definition of creativity unlocks its potential.

Producing: The Dynamic Intersection of Beauty and Logic

Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton offers a guide detailing how to direct musicians for sonic branding and ads

Navigating the Melodic Maze:  How to direct musicians for sonic branding and advertising

The future is in motion. CCO Alex Moulton writes for Adweek on how a robust motion identity can help brands stay relevant in today's video-driven landscape. Read the full article 

Alex Moulton on Adweek: Take a Page from the Motion Identity Playbook

Part traffic controller, part diplomat, part therapist, and part fortune teller. Read more about Senior Producer Lindsey Andon's perspectives on the nuanced role of Producer, and the challenges of explaining it to her parents.

Explaining What I Do to My Parents

Will AI steal all the fun jobs?...And other burning questions. Art Director Lili Emtiaz talks with Creative Technologist David Conklin about the potential pitfalls, hopes and fears surrounding the burgeoning tech category.

AI vs. Creative Industry: Will Robots Steal All the Fun Jobs?

Audiences can sniff out brand BS. Director of Creative Strategy Mika Saulitis on why today’s most compelling companies are celebrating the everyday, not just the extraordinary.

Attainable Is the New Aspirational

The marketing industry will spend 20 billion this year alone on AI, causing seismic shifts in creative work that are not yet fully realized. In the recent edition of Makers Magazine, Alex Moulton joins other creative leads in a discussion about the benefits and limitations of these tools, and the practical and ethical implications we face by using them.

"We have professional, ethical, and legal responsibilities to own the work that we sell to clients, which in turn they use to represent their brands. Most AI-generated content breaks every ethical practice on multiple levels." 

Makers Magazine: Feature on Generative AI

Naming a brand should be stimulating, inspiring, and meaningful. It also requires a litany of practical tasks you may not have thought of. Writer/Strategist Jo Beck shares her insights on how it’s done at our studio. 

Hello My Name Is...: A Practical Guide to Naming

Creative Director Josh Lynne shares what he’s learned about listening and how designing with empathy achieves different, more considered results.

Through empathetic listening, you’ll find connective themes that will help create project alignment.

Beyond the RFP

This week, CCO Alex Moulton joined the On Brand Podcast with Nick Westergaard to talk about the power of curiosity, why words matter, and immersing himself in the challenges and aspirations of everyone he works with.

On Brand: Designing Sustainable Brands with Alex Moulton

Cooking without recipes isn't just a process, it's a mindset. Designer + Animator Kasella Acain writes about experimentation in the kitchen and in design.

“Cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music. And cooking draws upon your every talent—science, mathematics, energy, history, experience—and the more experience you have, the less likely are your experiments to end in drivel and disaster. The more you know, the more you can create.” 

Cooking + Creativity

This week on the Signal to Noise podcast, Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton on the spirit of partnership, how to be a good listener, and making work that lasts. 

Signal to Noise: Alex Moulton on Designing for Longevity

“Find the Metaverse that wants you.” Creative Director Erin Kilkenny and Art Director Lili Emtiaz talk Animal Crossing, subreddits, and world-building for brands.

“You’re Gonna Love the Metaverse”

Trollbäck + Company isn’t exactly a small family business, but Director of Client Partnerships Ryan McRee writes about why the “+ Company” in our name defines a studio culture that feels that way. 

Small Family Business

Can AI build brands? Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton puts ChatGPT, a new language-generation software, to the test and gets fascinating results.

Can I Use ChatGPT as a Tool for Branding?

Senior Animator Marcelo Meneses writes about the sometimes-overlooked world of video games when it comes to finding inspiration for motion graphics. 

Finding Motion Graphics Inspiration in Gaming

Building brands has a lot in common with making movies – they both require emotional, evocative, compelling stories to succeed. Executive Director of Creative Strategy Bo Bishop writes about how having a background in filmmaking is his “secret sauce” for articulating strategy.

Five Films That Inspire Me as a Strategist 

Junior Designer + Animator Krysta Coates on what it’s like to start your first job remotely, and some tips for young designers doing the same. 

Navigating a First (Remote) Job

For our series Art All Around, Staff Writer Jo Beck visits the permanent home of Dan Flavin’s elegant light works in Bridgehampton, NY.

Art All Around: Dan Flavin 

Senior Designer Diksha Watwani has taught at SVA since 2016. She's found a balance being both a teacher and a perpetual student. Read her essay on our website.

“There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

Diksha Watwani on Teaching at School while Learning on the Job

Our design interns Jo Iijima, Mel Petzoldt and Yunjia Yuan chat studio life, work styles and reflect on their time at Trollbäck.

"I've learned to pay better attention to the outside world and find inspiration everywhere."

"It’s really important to think about things from a higher level and know that things can keep evolving."

Q&A: Summer Internship Wrap-Up

What could web3 mean for the future of advertising? Trollbäck’s Creative Director, Fran Roberts dives into the burgeoning potential of contextual advertising in a rapidly evolving digital landscape with The Drum.

“The wider use of AR and VR-capable devices and platforms will add the multi-sensory experience into the equation for the first time.” 

The Drum: Fran Roberts on Contextual Advertising 3.0

When first starting at Trollbäck+Company several years ago, Chief Creative Officer, Alex Moulton got a piece of advice from our founder, Jakob Trollbäck, that has stuck with him ever since. It now informs most of the decisions we make as a studio.

“When your focus is building brands that stand apart in a complex business environment, having a "house style" is antithetical.”

Alex Moulton on Muse By Clio: "We Should Never Repeat Ourselves"

Our Creative Director, Fran Roberts, chats with Fast Company about how brands can play an active role in getting ahead of social media giants and take charge of their metaverse experiences to create more engaging and deeper connections with audiences.

"The metaverse is in turmoil, and it hasn’t even been built yet."

Fast Company: The Metaverse is a Second Chance to Right the Wrongs of Social Media.

Executive Creative Director Elliott Chaffer talks with Creative Review about how our co-created program .movtogether offers a more personal and conversational approach to mentorship and created a space where newcomer creatives felt supported and more primed to enter the industry.

Creative Review: How Young Creatives Benefit From More Informal Mentorship 

After our recent collaboration with Mixteca, Design Director Nadia Shireen Husain talks with 'Design Is Everywhere' podcast about how to build a brand that helps connect a community to their mission. 

Designing For A Community: Nadia Husain talks branding Mixteca on the ‘Design Is Everywhere’ podcast. 

This month in Creative Pool, CCO Alex Moulton calls the creative industry to action for a radical new era of truth and transparency in branding.

"The time for “beautiful lies” is over. Branding in this new era must be about powerful truths."

Creative Pool: In 2021, Brands Need to Be More Honest

This month, Associate Creative Director Nadia Husain shares her thoughts on making design memorable and meaningful for a new era of creative empathy.

"A lot of people in this industry use the word “impact” — a word that can have so many different meanings to so many people. As an artist and designer, what does “impact” mean to you?"

"Some of my other techniques are in observation. Listen, read, watch, especially when representing perspectives that are different from my own."

Nadia Husain: Designing For Impact, Influence + Identity

Among the many pivots that brands will need to make in a post-COVID-19 world, there’s one oversight that no one seems to be discussing yet: the rising relevance of Gen X.

New Digital Age: Why Gen X Suddenly Matters More For Brands

A glossary of real-talk terms and techniques for the modern creative.

Muse by Clio: What We Talk About When We Talk About Design

With the spread of misinformation and online scare tactics, strategist Asia Hunt explains how we've entered into a growing economy of fear — and how brands, as primary communicators in our digital ecosystem, can lend a hand in diffusing this fear.

"It is now more important than ever for brands to be transparent and concise in their messaging."

Incendiary Headlines: How Brands Can Keep COVID-19 Messaging From Fanning a Dangerous Flame

This week, Trollbäck’s executive director of client partnerships David Edelstein was featured alongside a number of creative and agency leaders on Promax’s Daily Brief offering advice on how to get (and stay) creative during these unprecedented times.

"It’s made us at Trollback a much better team, seeing how people have risen up and supported each other."

Promax: How Agencies Are Getting Creative During COVID-19

For our latest design list, we’ve outlined a list of resources and ways you can help fight the effects of COVID-19.

Design List: How To Help Fight the Impacts of COVID-19

As hundreds of studios around the world transition over to remote, flex, and socially-distanced schedules, it’s no surprise that many of us are turning to the internet for tips and tricks on how to cope.

Creative Review: Designing the Perfect Work From Home Experience

This week in Retail Customer Experience, CCO Alex Moulton shares his thoughts on how to optimize in-store experiences for a new era of IRL interaction.

Experiential Retail: How Can Screens Improve the In-Store Experience?

This week on Fintech Futures, CCO Alex Moulton shares his thoughts on how big finance can ready itself and navigate the changing financial services market.

“Just as 50 years ago you trusted your bank with its solid, imposing presence on Main Street, today you may choose to trust because it looks like Uber, Instagram, or Spotify.”

Fintech Futures: Taking on the Apps

In the latest issue of CEO Today, CCO Alex Moulton talks about the importance of brand voice, messaging, and visual communication in today’s increasingly "social" landscape.

CEO Today: The Three Cs of Global Brand Consistency

We share a few tips and tricks we’ve learned through the past 20 years that can help brand managers make things funny without falling flat.

Designing With Humor: Five Ways Brands Can Be Funny Without Falling Flat

Trollbäck CCO Alex Moulton was recently published in Brandberries, the first branding gateway of the Middle East and Africa.

Effective Brand Storytelling: The How-tos

Is it time for your brand to take a stand?

Digital Darwinism: The Do’s and Don’ts of Brand Activism

For our latest Trollbäck List, we created a list of 10 essential TOV traits for brands to consider, and a quick explanation of when (and when not) to use them.

Shaping Brand Voice: 10 Essential TOV Traits and When to Use Them

Creating real visual effects in-camera is something I am passionate about. Call me “old skool,” but I strongly believe that now, more than ever, it is important to create work with personality and a human touch that breaks free from the sameness of work created with today’s over-obsession with plug-ins and render engines.

In-Camera Effects: “Keeping it Real” in a Post-Digital Culture

Dieter Rams and his “10 Principles of Good Design” have had a huge influence on my practices as a designer, and continue to be a great reference for creating simple, effective design solutions.

Beauty + Logic: Design Still Matters

When we tell our stories authentically, we achieve real, lasting human relationships and open ourselves up to new worlds of possibilities and opportunities.

Beauty + Logic: I Share Therefore I Am Not

Latest posts

Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton offers five key branding strategies for subscription success.

Imagine a revenue stream that keeps flowing month after month, building deeper connections with your customers. Sounds tempting, right? But transitioning to a subscription model isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. It requires building brand trust and loyalty beyond just your product. Read the full article on Business Reporter. 

From free to fee: how to build a brand worth subscribing to

Featured

"Design is the practice of answering a lot of the questions that art can ask, and business is really that practice of delivering the answers to those questions."

My Life In Design Podcast: CCO Alex Moulton

Graphic Design USA: An Interview with Alex Moulton and Rosie Garschina 

"Brand strategy is about codifying a client’s gut feeling. You do the due diligence to explore relevant positioning so that when you arrive at the final product the client says: ‘this is it.’"


Insights and inspirations from our studio